00:00:09,340	S1:
I'm going to respect everybody's time. It's April 7th. Uh, this is the. It's not this meeting. Technically, it's a board of equalization meeting. We're in the, uh, Tom Baker room of the city county building or county city building. Uh, and we'll call the meeting order first. So I think, Jason, you've got roll.

00:00:30,820	S2:
Yes, sir. Commissioner Zenker here. Commissioner Cleary here. Mayor Schmitz.

00:00:36,060	S1:
Here. All right, we're in. We're in session. Go ahead, Allison, and deliver your report, and then we'll get to the public hearing portion.

00:00:45,580	S3:
Great. Well, mayor and commissioners, I would like to start the meeting off with a short video about what our office does. So I don't know if this is.

00:01:07,560	S3:
He said I could click this, but it's not going anywhere.

00:01:20,920	S4:
Okay, perfect.

00:01:23,680	S5:
So there's a lot of misunderstanding about the role of assessors and how they affect the property tax that homeowners pay. When someone hears the term assessor. They seem to think of a scary figure reaching for their wallet. Not so. Assessors don't set tax rates. Assessors don't chase tax dollars. An assessor is interested in fairly determining property values and they take great pride in it. Property tax is determined by a simple formula. Assessors only affect one of these variables, the value, and they do so with incredible accuracy assessors aren't tax collectors or even tax setters. They're just fellow taxpayers. And their primary goal is to make everything fair and equitable. Imagine that you're in a restaurant with two friends. One orders a hot dog, one orders a plate of caviar, and you order a steak. The waiter comes to the table with a total bill of $100, but he doesn't know how much each of you should pay. If everyone paid the same amount, the guy who ordered the caviar might be happy. But what about the guy who ordered the hot dog? Enter, assessors. The food is your property. Just like these meals, some people's property is worth more than others. And it's the assessor's job to determine how much each property is worth. That's it. So in the same way the value of these menu items would need to be determined. An assessor places value on properties to ensure fairness and equity. After the assessor determines the value of each property, local governing bodies will set their budgets for the coming year. They set the tax rate in order to produce the dollars needed for their budgets. The value of a property does not affect the amount of property tax needed. The sum total of all those budgets is a set number that has to be divided up among all the property owners. So even if everyone's value was cut in half by the assessors, the tax rate will be raised in order to generate the same amount of tax revenue. The assessors don't determine the taxes you pay, they just determine the values of properties to keep everything as fair and equitable as possible. When you notice a change in your property's assessed value, that change is the result of a never ending quest for fairness and accuracy. Assessors are graded on their performance, so there is a detailed system to get accurate valuations. First, the assessor looks at similar properties that have sold their sale prices and the terms and conditions of each sale. That's the reason your home won't just be compared to the place next door. Studying things like square footage, age and location helps assessors determine how comparable another property is to yours. Even seemingly small details, like an extra bathroom or finished basement, can result in significant differences in value in two otherwise identical homes. Assessors maintain a thorough database of real estate information to make this process as precise as possible. Changes in value are typically the result of local real estate market sales or major changes to a property. Remodel a kitchen or finish your basement and your property's value could increase when you see your home's assessed value. You can rest assured that the number has not been drawn out of a hat, nor generated with anything but equity and accuracy in mind. Long story short, assessors are here to help. Not trying to hinder their focus is accurate values, not tax collection. The only things and assessor chases are fairness and equity and they take great pride in it.

00:04:55,050	S3:
The assassin Division is a team of ten. We've got seven appraisers, including myself and three front office staff and our team processes ownership changes. We assist taxpayers with questions about their property valuations, applications for homestead and veterans credits. We create new parcels. When a property is annexed, a new plat is recorded or a lot modification is approved. And we establish value for all taxable property within the city of Bismarck.

00:05:32,370	S3:
The assessing division uses mass appraisal techniques to establish valuations for all taxable properties annually, and this is done by discovering, listing and valuing properties in accordance with North Dakota Century Code. The office of the State Tax Commissioners guidelines and IAU standards. The values we establish are used by school districts, the county, city, and the parks district.

00:06:06,830	S3:
For our 2026 assessment.

00:06:12,670	There were 27,814 S3:
parcels in the city of Bismarck. Residential properties make up the bulk of those parcels and they are mainly comprised of single family homes. Commercial properties would include retail, manufacturing, apartments, hotels, um, just to name a few of the occupancies that we would have there. And then some of those parcels are partially or fully exempt from taxation. Um, an example would be a property owned by the United States. Um, the state of North Dakota. City of Bismarck. Birley. County school districts. Churches. Charitable organizations. Um Century Code does allow for various exemptions based on the ownership and use of the property itself.

00:07:03,020	S3:
All property is valued each year based on the previous year's market, not just the properties that have pulled permits, had a transfer of ownership, or ones that, um, might have been in our review area.

00:07:22,900	S3:
So we perform physical inspections. Um, and they're very important for our office. We do that to verify the details of the improvements. We currently have the city on a six year review cycle. For 2026, we saw 4392 residential parcels and 413 commercial parcels. The physical inspections were also made to verify details on the parcels that sold in 2025, or had a permit for new construction, an addition, a remodel, basement finish and exterior items like a detached garage, a deck, a shed, swimming pool.

00:08:13,480	S3:
When we review a property, we look at the quality of the materials used. The condition of the structure. We determine if there's any unfinished areas, and we look at interior finish items like the lining of the walls, the number of plumbing fixtures, the heating and cooling source, types of exterior wall coverings, roof covering, wall or ceiling height. Mezzanines. Exterior items like concrete patios. Parking. deck, sheds, pools, detached garages, or any other outbuildings.

00:08:53,660	S3:
We use that data that we collect to establish the value. We always start by determining a replacement cost. New for the structure. We make deductions based on the age and the condition of the home which would be the depreciation. And then we'll add in the land value that we've established for that area. And that's known as the cost approach. After we've established a value with the cost approach we're going to compare that to the market. Uh, what similar properties have sold and are currently selling for in those areas will make adjustments to different neighborhoods based on those sales. And that's our sales comparison approach. We could utilize the income approach, but unfortunately we don't have enough income and expense information on those types of properties available to us in our office. So we just it's an option, but because we don't have the details we need, we only utilize that typically on hotel properties at this point in time.

00:09:59,000	S3:
So the City Board of Equalization is tonight. It's required to take place during the first 15 days in April annually. And this is the meeting where property owners can appeal their current valuation.

00:10:15,520	S3:
After the valuations are approved at tonight's meeting, they get sent to the county and they are again shared at the County Board of Equalization meeting this year. That is June 1st here in this same room. It's at 330 in the afternoon. And once the county meeting is done, then those valuations are sent to the state. And the State Board of Equalization meeting is held the second Tuesday in August annually. This year. That's August 11th and it's at 830 in the morning. And then when the state board reconvenes in October, that's when they certify our values for the year.

00:10:59,660	S3:
Property tax credits that we assist property owners with would be the Homestead credit and the veteran's credit for 2025. We did see an increase in applications for the homestead credit. We had 84 additional applications for that assessment year. And the based on that current levy, someone who qualified at the 100% level for the credit would save a little more than $2,100 on their home.

00:11:33,300	S3:
We also saw an increase in our disabled veterans credits for the year. We had an additional 46 applicants for that credit. And those credits are, um, the property owner doesn't, you know, they they receive the benefit of those, and then the state reimburses the different jurisdictions for that amount that they would have received had they not applied for the credit.

00:11:59,810	S3:
Just a few of the North Dakota Century codes. Um, property is all property in the state is subject to taxation unless it's exempted by law. Um, and then all real property subject taxation must be listed and assessed every year as of February 1st.

00:12:23,170	S3:
We are to value property at its true and full valuation that's determined by the market. What people are paying for properties. Property values are not set to meet budgetary needs for any taxing entity or because the property qualifies for a credit or an exemption.

00:12:45,710	S3:
And our assessments are made based on the prior years sales and information that we've been able to gather. So everything that we valued for the 2026 assessment was based off of 2025 sales and prior and and information that we've been able to collect on all of those properties.

00:13:09,070	S3:
So the AAO is a professional organization that sets the standard for mass appraisal, and it provides education and professional designations for assessors, appraisers and others in the industry. Many courses are required to meet our certification and continuing education needs within the state of North Dakota.

00:13:34,190	S3:
65% of our valuation is made up by residential properties. 35 is commercial. We have less than 1% of of agricultural properties within the city.

00:13:51,090	S3:
For our commercial review, we did see a slight decrease in the number of sales from 24 to 25, but the sales we did receive did indicate that we needed to increase our market values. Um, we also saw a slight decrease in new construction projects from 24 to 25 as well.

00:14:14,690	S3:
For our residential properties. Um, we had a few less sales there. Um, but the sales that we had did indicate our values were lower than required by state law, so we had to increase those. But there was an increase in new, um, new construction for residential homes.

00:14:39,510	S3:
The 2026 Annual Report of the Assessing Division summarizes the valuation of properties in the city of Bismarck. It also includes the effect of exemptions and other incentives, which result in an estimate of our 2026 taxable valuation. The 2026 total market value is $12,077,638,900.

00:15:04,510	S3:
It's an increase of 4.52% from the prior year.

00:15:11,030	S3:
The State Board of Equalization allows for a tolerance level of 90 to 100% of market value, and based on our 2025 sales and the valuations we established for 2026, our residential ratio comes in at 94.11%, and our commercial ratio is at 93.67.

00:15:37,530	S3:
Existing properties saw an overall increase of 3.27%.

00:15:46,850	S3:
And the remaining increase comes from growth. Our new construction annexations properties that were exempt that are now taxable. Those those are an addition to what we didn't have the year before.

00:16:05,650	S3:
Appraisal and assessment are a systematic process of collecting and analyzing data to arrive at a well-reasoned estimate of value as of a specific date. Century code sets that date as February 1st annually. Values for the 2026 assessment were done by collecting property data and analyzing sales transactions occurring in 2025 and prior. An important element in assessment is uniformity. Assessment personnel apply many tools to achieve uniform values among similar types of properties, and additionally, taxpayers are allowed input in the process by their rights to appeal their valuation. The City Board of Equalization is one of the opportunities for them to appeal. So this is a public hearing for property owners to protest their 2026 value. It's not a meeting to discuss any taxes, but anyone who does wish to to speak tonight should put their name, phone number and address if possible on this sign in form up here at the podium. Um, if the property owner has not already. I don't know where that went, but if the property owner has not already spoken, um, with someone from our office, we will reach out to them, um, in the next couple of days to visit with them personally about their concerns and schedule a review of their property so we can, you know, see if there's anything that we may have an error on their home if, um, if we do find a reason to adjust that valuation, we will present a recommendation at the County Board of Equalization meeting in on June 1st.

00:17:54,580	So do you have any questions for me about this portion of the report? S1:
Commissioner. Commissioner.

00:17:56,780	S6:
Mayor. Commissioners. Alison, um, so can you give a little overview as to what changes happened with the, uh, with the law that the state required everybody to get a letter on valuations? If you could expand on that, please.

00:18:09,940	S3:
They did. Um, I believe it was with House Bill 1176 when they made some changes to the laws. Prior to this year, we only had to send a notice of increase to individuals whose property value changed by a certain amount. Um, with that change to the law, they are no longer requiring that notice of increase. They are requiring that every property owner receive a notice of assessment. And so this year was the first year that we've had to send out a notice to every property owner so they can see what their prior year and their current year values are and let them know of the meeting dates so they could come and, you know, contest their value. They can call our office and visit with us if they have concerns, if they don't think the current value is what they could sell their property for. Um, that's a great time to give us a call and, and visit with us and.

00:19:05,000	S6:
Sure. Thank you. And then I got one follow up. One I mean, obviously, since you said there's 27,000 parcels, we had to send 27,000 letters plus. So off the top of your head, what's the what's the range that you saw from, um, the smallest percentage increase to the largest increase, I mean, right, because it's averages. That's what you presented to us today is averages. So I mean what's the what's the range.

00:19:30,340	S3:
Oh off the top of my head, I don't know if I can say because it would really just depend if it was an area that maybe properties weren't selling the same as they were the prior year, we might have had a decrease in valuation for that neighborhood, individual properties. If we'd been out there in this last year and found maybe some of our information was incorrect, their value could have went down as well, and it could go up significantly if, say, you were building a brand new home and it was partially or 100% complete, and last year it was just a vacant land. So, I mean, there's there's a wide range, I would say typically, um, you know, really just depends on the neighborhood. Some of those did go down, some of them stayed very similar, and some of them did go up more than others because of the market in their area. And what people are paying for those homes.

00:20:15,020	S6:
Thank you.

00:20:15,620	S2:
Yeah.

00:20:16,700	S1:
Any other questions at this point? Okay. Okay. Thank you.

00:20:21,740	S3:
And I'll after everybody has a chance to speak that wants to. I do have a couple of lists of people we have already talked to, and we'll we'll present those for a motion to approve.

00:20:31,120	S1:
Okay. And you've got a place for people to sign in, or we've got staff that's going to be able to take their names and addresses so that we can help them through this process.

00:20:41,400	S3:
Yes, absolutely. The the sign in form is here. Whitney did print some of those for us, so we have that available. Um, but if if people don't want to get up and speak tonight but would still like to visit with us, we'll definitely take their name and number down and give them a call.

00:20:55,440	S1:
Okay. And unfortunately put some people on the spot. But can the staff please stand so that if someone doesn't want to speak publicly but they know who they can reach out to, these individuals would welcome an opportunity to visit with you.

00:21:10,840	S3:
Absolutely. Yes.

00:21:12,520	S1:
Okay. Thank you. And I'm sorry I put you on the spot, but that's what we're here for. Okay. Okay.

00:21:18,400	S7:
Do we sprint to the podium or do you call people out?

00:21:21,000	S1:
So I'm going to open up the pub. It's a fair question. I'm going to call pub. I'm going to open up the public hearing at this point in time. And I'll ask is that we respectfully don't run somebody over.

00:21:31,820	S7:
You heard him.

00:21:33,220	S1:
So the public hearing is open. Anyone who wished to speak present your your question or comments. The podium is open. Do sign in with your address and if you would like to have assessing, visit with you to do an in person evaluation, because that can be more accurate. They're willing to do that.

00:21:54,140	S7:
And what I can do commissioners, is hand this back and have people start filling it out. Or do you want me to take a minute or two to fill it out here? Because I just from a time.

00:22:04,020	S1:
Just because if somebody fills it out and they didn't get up and speak, then we don't have a clean record. So we'll take our time. We're patient.

00:22:25,090	S7:
Good evening, commissioners. My name is Steve McNichols. My address is in South Bismarck. It is said that in the absence of actual information, people will invent their own. And I'm doubly happy to see the video that was shown here, because that's what I feel the State Department is doing with my property. In particular, things cited in that video comparing a hot dog to caviar to steak. Do I think what the city assessors are doing and taking no account into what kind of hot dog or caviar or steak it would be? I would also be a tad offended if I'm the assessor's that video, because the expert in that video, the waiter whose job it is to know what was served and what the costs are i.e. the assessors apparently had no clue. So to me that video is saying the assessors actually do not know how to do their job. Things cited in that video with regards to age of the home, the neighborhood in question, updates to the property, age of the things within the property. All in my case, have not changed since I bought the house a few years ago. I understood the first assessment increase because the house I purchased had been empty for about a year, a year and a half before I bought it, and in that time they had done some updating, eye painting and some appliances. They did no updates to the HVAC, HVAC system, to the garage door opener or the garage. The exterior besides paint, nor the roof. These are all things that come with a high degree of value in a property and are expensive to replace. The first valuation increase made sense to me. An empty home, now occupied should have a stabilized rate. That makes no, that's no problem to me. But the increase that I got in this letter, which is an additional $40,000, makes zero sense to me. And I'm simply basing that not just on common sense commissioners, but on the video you just played. There are no changes to my home. Not one bit of paint, not one bit of flooring, not a new garage door opener, no new HVAC system, no roof. Heck, not even any new plants. I just became an empty nester. My job was to attend my children's sporting events. I'm fortunate two of my three kids are competing in college. I attend those. I have made zero updates in my home, and yet the city, in its wisdom, has decided that my home is worth more. I do not understand the increase in valuation again based on the detailed points that video showed. So I'm asking for my valuation to not change because there is no sense or logic behind it, and simply stating it's what the market will bear is an inconvenient truth. Because when interest rates were high for bank loans and people were not buying, the city did not seek to lower valuations to increase home sales. But you seem very comfortable as an organized body, increasing whenever it suits your need. And as a taxpayer, I understand the need for taxes. Nobody likes taxes, not even you guys. But it's a reality. We call it adulting, but you don't get to make up the rules. Change valuations for homeowners win again by the things you cite specifically in the video, or at least not occurring in my property. I can't speak for anybody else, but I'm fairly certain had I added $40,000 of value to my home, I could tell you explicitly where it came from, and somebody could walk into my home and say, yes, that is different. That is new. I see what you did there, but and I invite an assessor to come back. There have been no appreciable changes besides the occupancy of the person in it, and the fact that my boys and my daughter don't live there anymore. So there's more food in my fridge. That's not a $40,000 tax increase.

00:25:50,510	S7:
I don't know what else you need me to say. Do I need to present this so I how do I know that you're hearing me and I want my rate to stay where it is? Like, what do I do next?

00:26:00,670	S1:
So we're hearing you, okay? And I don't know if the assessor's office has been out to your house or if it was.

00:26:07,670	S7:
They were right after I purchased it, which is. Which makes sense to me.

00:26:10,870	S1:
Okay, so since then, but This is the hard part for all of us, because when we go to sell it, we want to see that value go as high as it can, right? So even though you've owned it for four years, as the property value gone up or down in value to market, I don't know that answer. It may or may not have, but that's that's the difficult part that the assessor's office has to try to deal with. So they're willing to go out and relook at your house. And if it hasn't had any changes to it, and the market would indicate it should stay the same. It could. So but they need to be able to they need to put foot in your into your home probably.

00:26:51,570	S7:
Come on back. You can follow me there tonight. One final thought on this commissioner. And again I think it's a somewhat ridiculous comparison what the market will bear or what's happening in the market. And again, the things your department cited in the video we just watched. If the market is at a higher rate, that does not mean it should impact every home, because if these changes are not made again, things your video literally just cited. If those changes are not made and you're simply saying, well, because a house for blocks over sold for more, therefore you should again you're comparing a hot dog to caviar to steak and taking in no way the account of, well, that's just stuff we squeeze from a fish. So we're calling it caviar. Well, that looks like a round tube of meat. So guess what? We think that's a hot dog. And that's a flat brown thing. We think that's a steak. Unfortunately, you're a level setting against things that should not be compared again by the things you guys cite. Thank you.

00:27:47,440	S1:
Thank you. Um, I'll just make sure.

00:27:49,160	S8:
Is that what I do? I bow, I don't know, no.

00:27:53,160	S1:
Please, please.

00:27:54,880	S7:
I have Greg, so just.

00:27:56,160	S8:
Relax.

00:27:56,840	S1:
Please. Please, just thank you. Your your information is. And presentation is fine. I would ask that you make sure that the assessing department has your address and and.

00:28:06,760	S8:
Right up here, sir.

00:28:07,480	S1:
Okay. Then we'll we'll follow up. Yep.

00:28:11,980	S8:
Yeah.

00:28:14,180	S1:
Okay.

00:28:16,940	S9:
All right, guys.

00:28:20,900	S9:
Come on back here. Oh, man. Mr. mayor.

00:28:28,140	S10:
Thank you.

00:28:58,100	S1:
Mayor.

00:28:58,460	S11:
Commissioners. Thanks for your time and Commissioner Zenko. I know you're back. Yes, I am. Um, as you may hear from a lot of other people, I'm not pleased with the level of taxation on my property. Although I understand the need for maintaining our city, it becomes a concern when the assessment levels appear to be unfair. My hardware stores taxed at a rate dramatically higher than my competitors or the neighboring buildings. I'm taxed at nearly three times the rate of the box stores, and approximately double the rate of buildings by size in the area. I've prepared a list of my neighbors and competitors and the tax rate per square foot. Note that they all pay around a buck 50 per foot or less. Fleet farm is brand new and paying $1.45 per square foot. My taxes are at $2.87, double theirs. I'm sure the city would love to be known as friendly to small business, but if you're making it very difficult to compete with the chain stores that pay dramatically, as I've heard from you before, that the area type of construction and such. Make a difference. Please look at the cash wise numbers. We share nearly the same lot about the same age of building, exactly the same tip up construction. They are 62% larger than my building. Plus they have the full gas station and their taxes are five grand less than mine. They pay $1.67 per square foot. I pay 287 per square foot, nearly double by the comparison. Also, you notice that the value of my building is rated about half the value of Walmart or Menards. Those buildings are five, six, seven times bigger than mine and I am evaluated at half. The appearance to me is that the corporates have the influence to get lower evaluations. I understand that I appear to be a bit paranoid, but look at the numbers and tell me why I would think anything else. As non-profits and government entities buy more properties in town than the state does residential buy downs, the local tax burden will increasingly shift to small businesses like mine. Local residents are paying higher home taxes to subsidize these lower rates for these corporate big boxes. A few years ago, you made an adjustment when we noticed the same unfair evaluation to my South neighborhood. Before that adjustment, my taxes were way out of line down there. As you can see on my example, you brought myself in line with Walmart and Target down south. Now I am asking you, in the interest of fairness, that you bring my north property in line with the neighbors up there. As a sidelight, I'm just curious how Basin Electric's beautiful cars only pay 70,000. I pay 105,000. And for some reason MDU downtown pays nothing. I don't understand that. I'm not asking for special treatment. Please look at the evidence in front of you and help make this fair for you folks in the audience. The tax rates that I've given our representatives are. Menards. Buck 35 afoot Walmart dollar 14. Fleet farm a buck 45. Costco $1.63. Sky zone 145. Furniture oh 125. Lowe's 125. These are all people in my neighborhood. All buildings similar to mine. I'm at two. 87. 2 to 3 times the rate that they are taxed at. I just guys, I feel that's unfair. And tell me why I shouldn't feel like we've been singled out a little bit.

00:32:22,670	S11:
Any questions for me?

00:32:25,910	S1:
No. I may have questions for staff later because. But I appreciate the information.

00:32:31,150	S11:
Thanks for the attention. Thank you for the opportunity. It's important that we can say these things. Gentlemen. Lady. Thank you.

00:33:07,170	S12:
Good evening, commissioners. My name is Mike Boyd. I purchased a home on, uh, Calgary Avenue at 622 Calgary Avenue on September 13th of 2024. Um, when I got this notice today or, uh, on in February, I did notice that, uh, you had my house, uh, basically valued at $514,000.

00:33:37,610	S12:
Um, for the year of 2025. Um, I purchased that house for 465 on September 13th of, uh, of 2024. Um, I have no idea why the value was 50,000 higher right out of the gate. And then this year, you've increased it by another 5000. So apparently the value of my home has gone up about 75 $76,000 in the matter of 18 months. I don't think that's right. I did print out some comps off of Realtor.com, home, Zillow, all of their home value estimates for my house. The actual house itself ranges somewhere between 490 and 500,000. And you've got me listed at 539 one.

00:34:34,910	S12:
I work as an insurance claim rep. I write a lot of estimates on homes for total reconstruction, on total fires or tornado losses, things like that. Um, I like to think that I'm a little bit savvy about real estate, but I'm nowhere near 76,000 good in 18 months. So I'd like to have somebody come out to my house. No improvements have been made. I've got cracking tiles. I've got a ten year old house. There's absolutely no way it went up in that kind of value. Respectfully. So I'd like to have somebody come out and take a look at that. I'm not a great public speaker, so my handwriting is a little bit shaky here. I'm a little bit nervous, as you can tell.

00:35:23,490	S1:
Just you can just stop. They'll they'll sit. Get your information from you.

00:35:27,530	S12:
Wonderful. Thank you. Appreciate it.

00:36:09,590	S13:
Well, mayor and commissioners, my name is Tim Tucson. I live at 3211 North 19th Street, which is in Pebble. Great condition. I received your letter advertised or advising me myself of the raise my the assessed value of my property to $35,800 and noting the date of the hearing to appeal. The letter did not mention any place that we could call and discusses with the assessment office and said, if you want to appeal, come to the meeting. So that's what I'm doing. If this stands and you note on the spreadsheet that I provided from you In 2023, my property went up $32,800, in 2024 was 9700. And now in 2526, $35,800.

00:37:11,300	S13:
Which means in the last three years, if this assessment proves valuable, my house value went up $78,300 in three years.

00:37:25,940	S13:
Um, I think that when a letter is sent like this, I really think it deserves a letter of explanation too, as to why this increase occurs instead of just showing. This is the old assessment. This is the new assessment. That's it.

00:37:48,860	S13:
I know that houses have been sold in Pebble Creek condition. There's one that's three houses to the north of me, and I know that sold for well over 450,000. Why do I know this? Because I went on on the page that told me to go to and Zillow. And believe me, that house is in no comparison to mine. That house has fully bricked. It has two great big stall garages. It has. The bottom basement is a full home in itself, full kitchen, everything just like what it is upstairs, my cousin's home, three blocks to the north are to the east. Excuse me, on Nevada. And I know she got over 450,000 for her house because she moved to Fargo. But her house in comparison to mine, she has a three stall garage. It's a story and a half house, four levels, a sunroom, large backyard. Not comparable to mine on 19th Street. As a matter of fact, you know, I really don't care what others are getting for their house. That's not my business. I mean, if they want to sell it for 500,000. Amen. Good for them, you know. Now we're seeing some kind of development on Calgary Avenue and behind the apartments on North 19th. And I know at one time that was commercial art. Now it looks like it's either going to be residential housing or apartment building. It's like, you know, comparing my house to your house. It's just like apples and oranges. You know you can't put him in the same basket. Um, you talk about location. You realize what? How busy 19th Street is? I doubt it. I mean, today we saw three cops there, which is three cops that we haven't seen for a long time. But come on 19th from 630 in the morning to about 9:00. We have traffic. We. We live, I suppose, two and a half blocks away from century. We have cars lined up beyond our place to the north, and then coming here at 5:00. It's a nightmare to get out of my driveway because I can't when I spend five minutes waiting just to get out of my driveway.

00:40:50,140	S13:
19th is the new seventh street. Our state street. You know, it's the quickest way to get out to Walmart to get those bargains. Um.

00:41:03,020	S13:
The other thing is, you know, my wife and I were retired. We depend on Social Security and my retirement to pay my bills.

00:41:13,620	S13:
I get no increase in my retirement and the minimal increase that we got for Social Security, Medicare and our insurance costs covered all of that little cola increase that we got our Cobra increase. It was ridiculous.

00:41:33,980	S13:
Um.

00:41:37,100	S13:
I guess we need to quit raising the assessed values. You know, you see, every year since 2000, there were three years that there was none. No increases whatsoever. And then all of a sudden, then everything started going up. You know. Is it? Is it the city's plan to drive us senior citizens out of our homes? Because it's getting to the point where, you know, I we set aside money each month just to pay our taxes. And when you increase the assessed value of a house, yes, it does influence your property taxes. So don't don't tell me. Oh, that's not going to. Not going to affect it. One positive thing I have noted on your on the spreadsheet that I gave you that the mills in some cases have gone down, which is nice. I mean thank you for that. But.

00:42:48,830	S13:
It is not a seller's market out there. It's a buyer's market. You know, my cousin's house was on. She was lucky that she got it sold. Because she lives in Nevada Street. That street is not as busy as what 19th Street is. You know, you guys got to start taking that into consideration. We were assessed two years ago. And the lady, she came out and she said, oh, I remember you. We were here two years ago prior to that. I'm going. Really? Okay, so what's up? Oh, well, we have to assess property every two years. I'm going. Really? You have how many assessors? There's 200,000 homes in Bismarck. Boy, that's awful darn good if you can do that. Boy, you guys must be out assessing 15 or 20 homes every day or more. You know, I guess, you know, besides our regular maintenance. And we got hail damage on our windows in our house. And you know darn well that if you don't replace those, either the insurance rates go up or they say, oh, well, we're not going to insure you anymore, you know. So general maintenance, you know, like I told the assessor and I was here the other time in 2023, and I told you guys right off the bat, you know, I had to replace my front deck. I almost fell through it. I'm not a heavy person, you know, but. And then when I, I and my a guy were taking it off and the guy said, ah. This isn't even built to code. And you said, I don't think that was the code when your house was built in 97, 98 either. So shortcuts were taken. And now we end up paying for it because we gotta do regular assessment or regular improvements on our house.

00:45:16,670	S13:
All in all, no, I'm. I'm not in favor of, you know. Sure. I'd like to get 300, 400,000 out of my house.

00:45:29,070	S13:
But nobody's going to do it. They look at the street. They come by at 8:00 in the morning or 5:00 in the afternoon. They're going, oh, I can't We don't want this house. I can't even cross the street. Go get my mail without fear of getting hit. You know, it's a good thing I have my cane. You know, I have a heavier one. I feel like throwing it at some people because. Do they stop? No. One guy said we'll use the crosswalk. Um, there is no crosswalks on North 19th Street, so I walk, so I'm straight across from my mailbox so they can see me.

00:46:13,570	S13:
So I guess, I don't know, I'm, I, I'm not happy with this large increase. I talk to my neighbors around me and they felt the same way. But none of them are here because one has to work. And and one said, well, I'll get the information from you when you get home and that, you know, which is not the right way to do it. But, you know, thank you for your time And listening to the gripe of all of us. But, you know, I guess, you know, all in all, we need to, you know, I know it's hard to budget for the city of Bismarck, you know, but my checkbook can only take so much, you know. And pretty soon it's going to go, oh, there's no money in it. You know, I don't want to have to sell my house. You know, I'm. I'm approaching 70 years old. I may not look at, but I'm. So I will be 70, you know, and I don't think, you know, I don't want to sell my house, but, you know, I might have to sell it and move out of Bismarck. You know, I thought I thought Bismarck was a friendly city and wanted to invite people to come in and that a young couple, they can't do it unless they have darn good jobs. And both are working and no kids, you know, think about a brand new house. They got to pay specials on that too. It's just not the land value and our land value just because we have a house on it. You know, our house was built in 98, 97 by walkers, you know, and I asked Chad at the time, what what is the lot worth about? Well, he said about 60,000 now. Well, that's a lot, you know. And since then we've expanded north and beyond. But, you know, I, I guess, you know, and the other thing is, too, on North 19th, the city gave us this wonderful present called assessments, our specials on it that we have to pay. And, you know, this is the third time that 19th Street has been repaved.

00:48:39,520	S13:
You know, and the third time that I'm painting specials on it, you know, and it's getting ridiculous. You know, thank you for your time.

00:49:26,360	S14:
My name is Morrison. I am here to discuss the Um, real estate assessment letter that I got. Um, my property is, you know, not valued as what other people's are. Um, but an increase is still an increase. Um, the originally when I purchased the property in 2025. Um, you know, during the video. Or it might have been the presentation afterwards. And I keep hearing this like there's a 90, like a 10% value from the assessed value to the market value. They need to be in this window. And nowhere can I find this, um, language in like, sentry code, and I search for it. I cannot find, like, this, this number, whatever that's supposed to be, that. I mean, ideally, the market value should be higher than what the assessed value is, but when the market value ends up being lower than what the assessed value is. Um, that's kind of where the concern comes to me. So when I first purchased the property, that was the case that the, the sale, um, the list price was actually less than what the tax assessed value was. So, um, a shortly a month thereafter, I did contact the assessor's department to come out and review the property. Um, because there had been no improvements done. Um, just to maybe they hadn't been there for a while just to take a look at it and see, like, is this truly what it should be? Um, I, I, you know, I can't remember. May fill my memory as to, um, what was found. I don't know that I ever received any correspondence. Like it is what it is. Um, but the, um. And I will back up that the list price was 2%, or the assessed value from the tax for for taxes was 2% higher than what the listing price was. Um, and so then in 25 it went up the value increase another 1%. And that would have been based on probably the valuation that I had had done that February. Um, now the, the rate, you know, the value has gone up again. Um, and if that 90 to 100% of value of what it's supposed to be, and I'm not going to argue that that's, it's like about within 5% of what Zillow would say the 100. You know what Zillow says the market value is, is about within 5% of what the assessed value is. Um, which I think that's where we want to be. Um, but the problem comes in when the video itself said it should be fair and equitable. And that is where the issue comes in, is that that is not the case, because I did look at the houses that are on my street. I know the video assessed or addressed that. You can't look at that. But what I did find when I, when I looked at that, it was that, um, three of there's, there's ten houses on the street. Three of the houses fall within that 10% variance, and three of them are between 10 and 20%. So what the market says it's worth versus what it's assessed at. It's a 2010 to 3 of them are 10 to 20%. So that tells me that. Why are some within that 10% and some aren't. Um, and then I went further and looked at, came off of that street and looked at properties that had sold within the last, um, I went about 14 months and I analyzed about 18 properties that were, um, in a similar size home, but I looked kind of similar neighborhoods, but not, you know, not completely, completely the same. Um, and so based on that, there were and I hope these people are here today that their properties market value is less than what the assessed value is. And I would certainly be here if that was the case. I'm here, Mike, because mine is like very close to zero. But um, again, there were three of those properties were within that 10% window and every six of them were between 10 and 20%, two or between 20 and 30%. And two of them had a um, greater than a 30% variance between the market value and this s value. So I don't know if they use computers. I don't I don't know what it's done, but to me that is not fair. That is not equitable because to me the properties are not looked at the same across the board. Um, so they're, you know, they were again out to the property. Um, my property February of 25. There hasn't been anything done to it. So I don't know if it's just an explanation of the properties that I identified here to why they're valued that way. I don't know if they're all being looked at. To me, they should be a lot closer. So that is all I wanted to say. I have my information here and they can contact me if they wish to speak with me.

00:54:54,250	S8:
Okay.

00:54:55,010	S14:
Thank you.

00:55:23,270	S15:
This will be short and sweet. It sounds like a broken record. Um, our house was built in 2020.

00:55:28,950	S1:
Can you give us your name, please?

00:55:30,310	S15:
I'm sorry. My name is Leslie Bentz, and we live in Heritage Park. And my husband and I moved into our bought our home in 21. Was built in 20. Um, as others have said, we have done nothing to it. The assessment this year from last year is $104,000 more, which is over a 15% increase. Our realtor, who is one of the top realtors in Bismarck, sends us an assessment about every quarter. I just received it. It is $235,500 less than the assessed value. So that's all I wanted you to know. I will put my name down to have somebody take a look at this again.

00:56:12,950	S9:
I'd be happy to. It's up there again. Okay. If it's on there, I can. Thank you. Yep.

00:56:25,130	S16:
Good evening. So we are Ray and Catherine Denholm. We live up on Marsh Hawk Drive in northwest Bismarck. So we bought that home less than four years ago. It was a new build. And so, um, not being any older than that, we have an assessed value increase of almost $40,000. Nothing's been changed there. So we would appreciate someone from the assessor's office a conversation there. So anyway, that's all I have. Everybody else has spoken. I don't really have anything additional to add.

00:56:56,690	S1:
So make sure your name and phone number so they can reach out to you.

00:57:01,370	S16:
We've got it.

00:57:02,010	S15:
Here.

00:57:02,730	S16:
Thank you kindly.

00:57:04,130	S8:
Don't have one from here.

00:57:05,610	S1:
Pardon me. Yeah. If you put it on the if you put it on the list there, um or you can speak to them, but.

00:57:53,320	S17:
Hi, my name is Kim. I live on 4601 Kite's Lane. I did speak to people at the assessor's office. Kellen. Is he.

00:58:01,280	S9:
Here?

00:58:02,400	S17:
Killian spent a lot of time with me. He did a great job. Was very thankful for his information. Very helpful. Um, my question is kind of different. Maybe. Um, I am wondering. Um, one thing that this letter doesn't show is how much is assessed for the property and how much is assessed, assessed for the residential structure. Now, if I check my tax bills every year and I can see what my property is and what my structure is, well, our property value are taxes as a whole in this current year went up 9%. Last year it was three. Um, last year the lot price went up $10,000 value. This year the lot price went up an additional $24,000.

00:59:06,940	S17:
And I, I just would like to know how that is determined. Right. How how they determine the increase in the lot, because I understand the value of the house is going to go up every year most likely. Right? Just a lot. And when I just pulled down, um, that is making our lot 122,000. Okay. When I looked at lots in Eagle Crest six, there's only a few lots left. They're not the most desirable lots. They're priced at 79. Okay. And then when I pulled, um, I understand that the only lots that are being sold are owned by one person, and he can make the price whatever he likes on the north side. Right. Knudsen got most of the land, and Knudsen puts his price on there. Um, and he's a good business man. Good for him. I mean, south of us is, um, Elkridge. We are not Elkridge. They have some different amenities. Nicer mailboxes and nicer lights. All little goodies right there. Lots. Down the block from me for a ranch, Patty. Home like I have similar sized lot are go from 99.9 to 149, with one being 124. But it's like a corner lot with a kind of a coulee in the back. So I'm just curious as to how they got the value. And it's pretty much for our whole subdivision. Um, because I did check last year, pretty much everyone's was 98, in our subdivision. I did check Horizon Heights across, um, Ash Coulee. There's were $10,000 less than ours. Eagle Crest. Ours were six. The other eagle crests were similar. So I'm assuming based on what I heard from my neighbors. I'm assuming that all of the lots in my neighborhood went up, not just mine. And I'm feeling like it was similar. And I'm just wondering how that was determined.

01:01:36,720	S9:
Yeah. Perfect. Perfect. Thank you.

01:01:44,160	S12:
Hi. My name is Matthew Weigel.

01:01:46,520	S6:
I've been in my.

01:01:47,200	S12:
Place for 21 years. Um, according to the value of my house has increased over 200 and some thousand dollars right now for the current year assessment on properties that have been sold for the last three years around my place has not gone above 210,000. And you guys are valuing my property at 295,000. There hasn't been a property in this development that has sold for over 210 since I've moved in there. I'd like to know how that is. Secondly, your so-called the assessors. I haven't been reached out to talk to an assessor since I moved in in 2004, and at that time I was told that their hours don't correspond with my hours, and that I just have to deal with how they assess my property.

01:02:34,030	S12:
So I'm wondering how this is going to work, because I've seen these assessors sitting right here hours past what I was told. There are hours of work there, but yet they refused to show up. I was told that I can leave my house unlocked so they can come through and search my house while I'm not around at any time, and they will lock up after they leave. So I'm just wondering how this actually works. According to your guys's ideas on how I'm supposed to let a stranger into my house without anybody around.

01:03:06,950	S1:
There shouldn't be in your house without you there?

01:03:09,290	S12:
I'm just wondering how that. I'm wondering. I was told that by the assessing company. So I'm just wondering how this is going to work so I can put my name and number on here, but they can't reach me until after 5:00. My hours are 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.. I can't get reached between those hours. They refuse to do anything after 5 p.m. or before 5 a.m., but yet it's 618 right now, and these assessors are sitting right here, so you can tell me that they don't work past five at 430 5:00. So I'm just wondering how this is all kind of going. And with the 21 years that I've been in my property, I haven't updated my basement, I haven't updated any floors. I've had to replace my, uh, roof. Is it? And they're telling me that my house has increased in value over 270 some thousand dollars in 21 years that I've been there. So I'm just wondering on how they're getting these numbers when I haven't been talked to any assessors in 21 years. So I'm just wondering where they're coming up with these numbers.

01:04:28,030	And is it just a feeling that they're having? Is it where they're getting these numbers at on how my property is supposed to be valued at over 300,000 when nothing sold over 210? S12:
So I'm just going to wondering where they're getting their numbers at and what's actually going on and how this all is working out. Because as far as I've, I know where they get in their numbers at.

01:04:46,310	S1:
Alison, you'll make sure somebody can work with his hours, please.

01:04:50,110	S9:
I can do that.

01:04:51,070	S8:
Okay.

01:05:07,930	S11:
Good evening.

01:05:10,970	S18:
I have a hard time wrapping my head around all these big numbers, because our unit just was assessed $20,300 more. That's $5,000 more.

01:05:24,090	S1:
Would you mind mention your name, sir?

01:05:25,850	S18:
My name is Richard Peck.

01:05:27,170	S1:
Okay. Thank you.

01:05:29,690	S18:
All right. Like I said, our unit was assessed 20,300. That's $5,000 more than we paid for our first house. So I have a hard time understanding that. But what concerns me are we. How are our grandchildren and our great grandchildren never going to afford a house? Because with the assessment that they have. I live in a fourplex and with our four plex is going to come down to is going to be assessed $81,200.

01:06:07,710	S18:
There's eight units in our eight. Buildings in our association. Uh, I don't think that that's fair. My wife and I are both retired. We're both in our late 80s.

01:06:22,070	S18:
The only thing we have to look forward to is when we come out of our driveway. I can turn left and go to the Baptist home, or I can turn right and go to the cemetery. Now I can. I also have a choice now of going down to the new, uh, funeral home. It's, uh.

01:06:42,350	S18:
I just wish that somebody would come up and take a look at our unit. I hate to degrade it, but when they built it, they only have it. They only had to put in six foot foundations, like with this heavy snow. We just had. It will melt down and it will seep up underneath. Inside. We have dirt crawl spaces that brings in mold. Uh.

01:07:11,260	S18:
It just. I just can't understand how they do that. They're also building row houses behind us. They squeezed it in a little patch of. And if that lowers the value of our unit, are they going to drop our assessment accordingly? That's one question I have. So I've asked them to come up and take a look at our unit and check it out. And I hope things can get straightened out. We're also fighting because we have to replace Nebraska Drive. Our association was just assessed to 100% of the work that they did. Now they're going to do some more work and we have to pay another 50%. The units across the street didn't pay a dime, but that's for another area. So it's with what they're evaluating, the new work they're going to put, it's going to cost 150%. I don't understand that. You have to look on your face too. I know you're confused too. You should be. I am really confused.

01:08:19,200	S9:
So do you have.

01:08:20,520	S6:
The special.

01:08:21,000	S9:
Assessment District?

01:08:23,120	S6:
Do you have the special assessment district or what letter you got for that? I have the engineering portfolio and we don't we don't assess anything 100%.

01:08:35,040	So do you have it? Is that this special? S18:
Here's what she gave me from upstairs. It's 100%. This is zero.

01:08:42,640	S18:
Here's the one that's marked 100%.

01:08:47,400	S18:
And the brand new apartment buildings are built on the corner. Aren't even included in.

01:08:54,280	S6:
I'll have some. I'll verify that. And then I'll have someone from engineering to call you to. Sir.

01:08:59,140	S18:
Okay, I appreciate that.

01:09:16,340	S18:
Thank you very much for your time.

01:09:17,460	S6:
What was your name again?

01:09:18,220	S18:
Sir Richard Peck.

01:09:19,620	S2:
Richard peck.

01:09:23,260	S1:
Thank you.

01:09:23,620	S9:
Thank you.

01:09:53,060	S19:
Good evening. My name is Patty Jensen from Tioga. We do have a condo that we purchased down here in 23. Um, and I guess just like everyone else, I guess I could just say that I don't believe the current value is what we could sell our property for. Um, I think basically, you know, they have honestly never been able to get Ahold of us to actually look at it. So I think we did have them look at it in 23 when we purchased it, because the value immediately skyrocketed. Um, and it's like, no, you guys come down and look at this. It was built in 1977. We still have orange carpet. We still have all the original hardware. Everything. I mean, she took really good care of it, but everything's from 1977, so. And I think what happened is they, uh, property similar sold, which was is beautiful, gorgeous. And they just flat took a 93% and said that's a value of ours. But I would like mine to look like that, but it doesn't. So if they could look at it. Thank you.

01:11:06,820	S1:
Thank you.

01:11:13,020	S20:
Hi. My name is Deb Hayden. Can I ask how far out you're scheduling? I mean, are we talking if we request someone to come look.

01:11:29,300	Is it a week, two weeks, six months? Nine months? S9:
When you have availability.

01:11:31,020	S3:
We can typically find.

01:11:32,700	S9:
Somebody.

01:11:33,100	S3:
Who can come.

01:11:33,540	S9:
Out.

01:11:34,620	S20:
Relatively.

01:11:35,460	S9:
Soon.

01:11:36,020	S20:
Relatively soon. Yeah. And I should have done this in past years. Um, we live on Boulder Ridge Road right off of 43rd Avenue, and we're in a twin home. There are eight identical or close to identical, Um, twin homes. And one, just two away from me has been for sale. Off and on. Mostly on for sale by owner and through a realtor for the past two years. And hasn't sold that one. Even has stone countertops. We have Formica yet. Um, we've been there for 19.5 years since it was built, and even from 2022, the value of our home, the assessed value was 334. In four years, it supposedly went up $110,000. So that one is for sale currently for the last over a year, for sale for 395. And I'm being told mine is worth for 44. It's it makes no sense to me. So I'm putting my information on here and I guess I would like to have someone come and I can always call on schedule to. But I am can be around just about any time, so thank you.

01:13:04,470	S8:
Thank you.

01:13:49,630	S21:
Good evening, commissioners chairman. I appreciate the time to. To come and let us speak with you guys about the things that we've been experiencing with the property valuations. Um, kind of like what everybody else has said.

01:14:02,570	S1:
Your name?

01:14:03,090	S21:
Oh, sorry. Ben Chambers, I live at 2245 Grant drive. So my house, we we are first time homeowners since 2017. Uh, when we bought the house, it's a three bedroom ranch, small backyard. And in the nine years going on, ten years that we've lived there again, kind of like with a lot of what other people said have made no major improvements to the home. It's pretty much the same as this since we got there. And and my my concern is just the how quick the property value has gone up in such a short amount of time from 2017 to what my most recent tax assessment shows. You know, 2017, when we purchased this purchase, the house at about 260. In 23 it only made it up to about 28 five 285,000. So that's about maybe a 2025, almost $30,000 increase right there with the letter that I just got. Um, between just for this year from 25 to 26 is 33 about 33, 34,000. So in just one calendar year, it's gone up. How much my home increase from 2017 to 2023. And then if you count in the year previous from 2024 to now, if this if this proposal goes through is about $52,000 in two calendar years. So my concern is just how fast it's gone up. Um, you know, I watch my property, you know, real estate assessments from year to year. And when, you know, when I see the averages on the presentation, where valuations have gone up 4 or 5 6% across the entire city as a whole. I wish that mine was in that category, you know, but for the last two years now, if I if I add up all those dollars, that's almost a 20% increase on my home in just two calendar years. So that's that's one of my biggest concerns, just the short amount of time that it's taken to get to that point. And the second one is in the nine years that I've lived here, I've never had anybody reach out to me or contact me to do a walk through my home. In fact, on Zillow, Trulia, and realtor, my my house is actually listed incorrectly in terms of bedrooms and bathrooms. It says I live in a five bedroom, two bathroom house and I live in a three bedroom, two bathroom house, you know? Um, the rooms that they're probably thinking are bedrooms have no egress and the windows are not is capable like, at all. So I think there's an incorrect listing for my home. And somehow I just don't know in the last two years, how that has just exploded the way that it has. So, you know, I appreciate the time getting to come here and talk about these things. I just want to know, um, I mean, I think the presentation did a pretty good job of telling me who I need to talk to in order to get that corrected. But just the also, as a new time home owner, uh, you know, when we get North Dakota legislative tax relief on our property taxes. And I was really excited to see that, you know, when I see these assessments come in and the number does factor in, at the end of the day, you know, minus the mill levy, you know, when all those numbers add up, it seems like, oh, we got all this, you know, state legislative tax relief. But now it's getting chewed up by my property valuation. That just blew up in the last two years. And so I just it seems a little conspicuous that the property went up that much right around the time all of these legislative things happened. So for a new time homeowner, it's kind of concerning that are things that are supposed to be making us feel better and, you know, being able to do all the things that we want to do as a family and, you know, fiscally planning for families, you know, um, it seems like we're, you know, the phrase of paying Peter to pay Paul, you know? So, um, I just I appreciate the time to come and talk. Uh, hopefully somebody will reach out to where we can get those numbers a little bit closer to the averages that were that were listed in the presentation. So thank you for your time.

01:18:13,700	S1:
You've got your name and number down.

01:18:15,620	S21:
So yes right here. Thank you. Thank you.

01:18:24,940	S20:
I have to move this down. Good morning. Good evening, commissioners. Mayor Schmitz, I'm Sandy Bates. I live at 931 North.

01:18:31,740	S3:
First.

01:18:31,980	S20:
Street and my valuation went up $15,000. I understand many others went up a lot more. My concern is I talked with all my neighbors surrounding me. I live on the extra wide, double long block. Um, and there's only one up 3 to $6000 each. I live in a small 1953 ranch. I still have original windows that I'm, you know, trying to replace. So I guess I'm wondering about how it was decided. I believe after speaking with my neighbors, I'm one of the very few who, a couple years ago, let someone from the city into my home to look around. Um, so I guess I'm just wondering, how is it a percentage across the block? There were two homes that sold on my block. One I felt sold, incredibly overvalued. It was appraised at 253,000 and sold for around 360 some thousand. Not a lot of work have been done to it. Single car garage. I have a double car garage. I shouldn't be saying these things because now my property will get more expensive. Sorry, but I just am curious. Like this one gets something. This one doesn't. This one gets something. And the property just to the north of me, I think, went up $6,000. It's twice the size of my property. So I'm just curious as to how and when there is an inflated sale. Because the house behind me was abandoned and trashed for many years. It's been purchased in there flipping it. It's sold for $264,000. If it sold that listing price, it was a foreclosure, I'm pretty sure, but mine went up to $269,400.

01:20:28,820	S20:
Um, so I'm just curious how it gets decided. Um, and when people don't let you in, I mean, I it's I understand that it's their choice, but it just seems a little confusing. And like this gentleman said, our property taxes, we get a rebate and it comes out of the other pocket to figure it out. I am a strong supporter of public services and I appreciate all the things the city does for us, but it just seems a little dispiriting as to how and where things get decided.

01:21:24,640	S20:
Thank you very much for allowing us.

01:21:28,400	S1:
Is there anyone else who would like to speak?

01:21:32,720	S22:
Mr. mayor, just a heads up. You do have one online as well.

01:21:39,740	S18:
Hi, my name is Art Koons. I bought my house in 1968. I paid $21,900 for it. I've been cranking it up every year. Last year you had it at 267,000.

01:22:02,300	This year you cranked it up another $27,500, S18:
295,000. Now, if you think it's worth 295,000, I'll give you a deal to sell it to you for 275. 16 years ago, I put new siding on. 14 years ago I put new windows on. Nothing else has ever been done since. Nobody's ever been in my house and assessed it. So at 86 years old, I'm getting a little tired quicker. But this is really tired me out this year. I worked for 47 years, and I saved money so I could live after I retired. Now I'm spending it on taxes. I'm beginning to think maybe we should have a new election and get people voted in that spend a little bit better. A couple years ago or a few years ago, they did my driveway in front of my place. Charge me $7,100. I got a 65 foot lot. They cracked my sidewalk when they did the apron thing. They replaced it, but now it's cracked again. Now, am I supposed to go pay for this? So that's all I have to say.

01:23:16,410	S1:
Please, please make sure your name and phone number is down so that we can get out there. And I want to make sure, by the way, and hopefully people did this. But if you didn't apply for the primary residence credit, you should every year because that number would cover a fair amount of property value, actually. Or there's other residential credits, residential credits as well.

01:23:55,230	S1:
No, the primary residence credit, the homestead credit is tough to get to. I agree.

01:24:06,670	S8:
Thank you.

01:24:11,310	S20:
Thank you for indulging me again. So from what you just said, is it my understanding that your point of view is that we'll get a tax credit that will replace the assessment? You're going to increase our property?

01:24:25,510	S1:
I didn't. No, that's not what I said. I just wanted to make sure everybody remembers to apply for the credit because it's $600 from the state that goes to reduce profit.

01:24:34,570	S20:
Say it covers what our property.

01:24:36,730	S11:
When.

01:24:37,610	S1:
It covers certain a certain value. Right. Okay. I didn't say to cover the increase.

01:24:42,610	S20:
Right. But it it sort of seems to me like you're saying we're accepting this because you're getting the oh, we're wanting this because you're getting this. And I understand that that, you know, you have a cap on your meals that you can now assess and collect and whatever, but it just seems like there's a lot of disconnect between what the state is doing and what the cities are doing and what the county is going to do, and it's really difficult to manage some of that as a property owner. I'm I'm a single person. I've paid every single bill my whole life, not my whole life. My parents helped me a little bit along the way, but it just, I don't know, it's a little frustrating to have Peter pay and Paul and all those things going on.

01:25:23,970	S1:
I understand that I was only I was only making a point to make sure people, because there are people, unfortunately, I've seen who did not apply for it.

01:25:31,870	S20:
I understand that, but also I know that that $1,600 is on the edge of going away from what? The way the legislators are talking, because they don't have the funding to do the certain things that they're talking about doing that the $1,600.

01:25:46,110	S9:
I can't.

01:25:46,550	S20:
Speak forever.

01:25:47,950	S1:
I can't speak to that.

01:25:49,470	S20:
You look like you're going to say something, Commissioner Zenker.

01:25:51,750	S9:
No.

01:25:54,030	S20:
You really want to, though? I know it.

01:25:56,790	S9:
When I do, I do.

01:26:30,570	S23:
Thank you for your time. And I'm not a lousy speaker, too, but I probably have the oldest home of anybody here. And I'm also saying just so. My name is Paul Myers.

01:26:40,890	S1:
I just want to get on the record.

01:26:42,010	S23:
Thank you. Thank you. Uh, my home is 1129 North 18th Street. That house was moved out there in 1946. Two story by junior high. Uh, I bought that in 1977. 2000, 23. Our fine young folks behind us mediated my property to $450,000.

01:27:09,210	S23:
State farm cancelled my insurance that year because I was insuring it for 250,000.

01:27:17,290	S23:
The department behind us when I called them said it was because of comparables. There wasn't another two story home other than the apartment houses around me. There's some split levels, but the reason they increase by over 130,000 was comparables. So that being said, here we are two years later and I'm getting another $9,000 increase. I am self-employed, I can afford it, but I had to adjust my insurance down. They wanted to do full value. I just went with replacement value. So I put it at to 250. Not what we have on here. So that being said, in the last two years I've had a $200,000 increase in my home value. So at that time they asked if I want an assessment. It was too late because I'd already paid my taxes so we can come in. Nothing's been improved in the House in over 35 years. I have the same cedar siding on it for 40 years that my dad and I put on it. Basement was remodeled 35 years ago. There's nothing been done to it in 35 years, but we have an increase of value. When I talk to whatever gentlemen it was at your office, they said, if you can find me somebody to buy this for 400,000. Let it go. So I had, uh, my insurance or my salesman that helped me buy my extra lot. He gave me a value of 240,000 on my home currently in the last year. So. But I'm being taxed for 450,000 now. So that's all I have to say. So yeah. My name we can talk. So the only other thing I don't like is I have a business on Revere Drive, and I get to spend 13 million for the detour repair.

01:29:12,660	S23:
So thank you for your time.

01:29:14,260	S8:
Thank you.

01:29:17,380	S1:
Is there anyone else who would like to speak?

01:29:22,800	S1:
Okay. We have someone online. So.

01:29:28,960	S22:
Her name is Jennifer.

01:29:29,920	S1:
Jennifer.

01:29:31,320	S24:
Hello. Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Jennifer Cruz. I'm representing Network Bismarck, LLC regarding the assessment of 400 East Broadway. It's also known as the Grand Pacific Center. This is a 90 500 zero square foot income producing multi-tenant office building. And for properties of this scale and complexity. The income approach is really the most reliable, appropriate method of valuation. Investors, when they purchase office buildings based on their ability to generate income, not on isolated sales that do not reflect the subject size, risk profile, and operating realities of the property. One of the core challenges in this appeal is really the lack of truly comparable sales in the Bismarck office market. Um, because of market conditions over the past several years due to higher interest rates, limited bioactivity, constrained capital markets. They've really resulted in very few office transactions, particularly for large downtown. Um, office buildings. Um, this is not something that's unique just to Bismarck. It's a national trend in the secondary office markets. And because of this, the sales comparison approach really simply cannot be a reliable indicator of the value for a 90 500 zero square foot asset. Uh, despite this, the assessor's office has relied on three sales, um, two of which are under 17,000ft². These are fundamentally different types of properties. Um, they don't share the subject size, tenancy structure, vacancy exposure or operational risk. Um, a small single storey office building cannot be used to value, you know, A700 zero square foot single storey office building cannot be used to value a 90 500 zero square foot downtown office tower. Um, this market does not treat these assets as comparable, and neither should the valuation. Um, in our opinion. Um, and I understand that there is the issue with the lack of availability available information to the assessor's office. Um, therefore, we have provided a, um, the email that we've already sent in to the assessor's office. Um, that supports our valuation. Um, and when we analyze the subject utilizing the income income approach, using the actual rents, actual vacancy, actual expenses, and a market supported capitalization rate, the income simply does not support the assessed value of the property. Um, the implied capitalization rate of the assessor's value is well below that of which market would require for a class B downtown office building in today's environment. Um, which means the assessment assumes a level of stability and investor demand that just simply does not exist. We also identified a potential significant error in the assessor's building profile, um, that we would like to discuss as well. Uh, the property itself contains about 95,000 rentable square feet. Uh, not gross. Um, as it is an income producing property. Um, as confirmed by the rent roll and the leasing documents that we submitted.

01:32:50,270	Um, however, the assessor's office is valuing the property using more than 138,000ft², S24:
which is an overstatement of more than 43,000ft². Um, when properties trade on the market, they don't they don't trade on a gross building square footage. They trade on a rentable square footage because they are income producing properties, and no income producing property can be accurately valued when the foundational square footage is overstated by nearly 50%. Um, so with that in mind. For these reasons, we respectfully request that the board give primary weight to our income approach or the Assessor's office. Give primary way to our income approach and correct the square footage error to ensure a fair and equitable valuation for this property. And that is all okay.

01:33:32,330	S1:
Thank you.

01:33:33,930	S24:
Thank you.

01:33:36,970	S1:
Is there anyone else wishing to speak?

01:33:45,810	S1:
If not, I will close the public hearing. But I do want to make sure if there's anyone who did not speak but would like to have their property looked at from a value standpoint, that you get your name and number to the assessor's team. So I will close the public hearing. Alison.

01:34:09,290	S3:
Just a couple things I'd like to comment on from some of the information that was shared. Um, the notice that everyone received it is a state form. It's brand new. This year, I can't guarantee the state won't change its format between now and next year. Um, so I know that maybe it didn't have all the information people were looking for. It does not have the breakdown of land and improvement. It just has the total value. Um, so we're happy to share that information with anybody who's looking for that on their specific property. But I just wanted to share that that is a state form. And we just we didn't have control over how it was laid out. And the information that's included on there is just the the values Commissioner.

01:34:51,630	S6:
So on that, on that note, Alison, um, can you there's got to be somebody you can talk to to adjust that form. So there's more information or pertinent information to each city or county or whatever. Right.

01:35:02,830	S3:
There's we you know, the our association that we have through North Dakota does share information with the state and we have contacts with the state. And so the more information they get from not just us, but other jurisdictions, that there's been concern with that I think there's a likelihood that they they could adjust it because it was brand new in the limited time frame that they had to come up with the information.

01:35:29,770	I think that's probably why it seems so somewhat simple, right? S6:
But any feedback we can give them I think would be beneficial. Okay.

01:35:33,210	S25:
Yeah. And I think if we hit a point where we know what that form looks like and it doesn't include a, please contact us if you have questions here. How to reach us, like if that can be an Insert or something. I know it, it adds to the workload and stuff, but I think that like to hear that they don't know that they can contact you before coming here to ask their questions. I think is another like roadblock for them.

01:35:53,690	S3:
Absolutely. We did have a spot where we could put like our office information with our phone number and our email address, and that was on there, but there wasn't enough room in that space to say, please contact us, but we can definitely add an insert next year if the forms the same. And we don't have the ability to say that to them. Um. Let's see.

01:36:19,270	S3:
There was a comment about MDU and basin and the amount of tax that they pay. Um, MDU doesn't pay a property tax. We don't value them because they're centrally assessed. So the state will assess them, they'll pay a tax to them, and then it gets distributed to the jurisdictions. Um, basin I think part of that is centrally assessed and part of it is locally assessed. So there is a difference on some of those types of properties. Um, anything that the state deems they should be centrally assessing the jurisdictions will still receive tax dollars from those. Um, but our office is not the one who will put the value on that because they are looked at a little differently than, um, what we would do for real property. So I just wanted to share that as well. Um, the comment about the fact that we've told property owners that just leave your house open and we'll come out and take a look. We don't do that. We we want somebody there. Um, typically the owner, um, we don't go in. If it's children and their parents aren't home, we never will enter a home. Unoccupied home. Um, without a property owner there to to give us the permission. They don't have to follow us through the house if they don't want to, but they're, they're, they're they're in the home and they've, they've allowed us in. Um, and then the, the 90 to 100%, the comment about it not being found in century Code, that's that's true. It's not in century Code. It is something that the State Board of Equalization sets every year and allows. Um, I think at one point in time it was 95 to 105%. And in the time that I've been in North Dakota, it's always been 90 to 100. But whatever the state board decides, that tolerance level is, um, and that tolerance level is overall. So it's our total valuations not individual property valuations. So some of those because we are mass appraisal could be more or less um but we're we're always happy to come out and take a look, make sure our data is accurate and verify. You know that the value we've set is based on what's actually there.

01:38:32,560	S3:
And yeah, again, with the the value increases, um, especially with that House bill. 1176 and the fact that those budgets do have a cap now, um, short of growth.

01:38:47,760	S3:
Your value increase is never going to be the same increase you're going to see in your taxes typically. Um, and, and so I understand that's always frustrating to property owners, but our value does have to be market value. And what, what it should be able to sell for on the market. We don't. We don't even think about what the tax might be, because that's not part of our process. Um, but I do know if we give an estimate, we're going to use the most current mill levy. You know, when we're giving somebody a tax estimate, if their value went up, it's going to seem like a big estimate. But that doesn't mean that that mill levy is going to stay the same in the next year. And because of the time frame when all of this stuff happens, there's no way for us to know exactly what all of the jurisdictions might do with their budgets and how that could could change the total mill levy. So.

01:39:42,260	S1:
Commissioners.

01:39:43,100	S6:
Mayor. Commissioners. Allison. So could you explain how the communication process goes with property owners if they reach out to you? I mean, you've got a whole list that you're going to contact. Right. Um, there were some concerns about responses or those types of things. Um, I mean, there's some that really need to be looked at here as well. Um, so how how are you how do you communicate with them? Do you provide a letter? I mean, the other thing is, how do we know that that communication takes place to anybody who.

01:40:13,840	S3:
Um, we have on our lists that I'll ask for approval on or who appeared tonight. They will receive a letter from our office letting them know what happened at the meeting this evening, if their valuation changed or not. If for the people who appeared tonight that we haven't been able to take a look at their properties. Um, and we're going to still go out and talk to them, we're going to call them, we're going to schedule an appointment, we'll visit with them. And then if we need to make an adjustment, we're going to make that at the county board level. So then they'll receive a letter from them as well. If our information is correct. And we have, you know, sales available to say that our values are accurate, we're going to let them know that when we talk to them, because we always call back and visit with the property owner after we've made a visit to their home to verify our data so we can tell them if we are making an adjustment or not. If we can't get Ahold of them, we leave a message and hope that they're going to call us back. But not everybody always does. And, you know, with the one gentleman who's not available between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m., I will reach out to him after five, and I will go out and look at his property after five. I'll. I'll make that happen. Um, it's not typical for our office to do that because we do work normal 8 to 5 office hours. But he is concerned with his valuation and he's willing to let us in. So I will find the time to connect with him and make sure I can get out there and do that. So anybody who has called, if they are concerned and they don't like what we've, um, what we're recommending, they still can go to the county board the 1st of June. I would highly recommend, if they don't agree with what we're going to recommend for the valuation that they they get Ahold of the county before their meeting. So the county has an opportunity to go out. Look at the property, pull the same information and and if they see a difference for some reason, you know, and they want to recommend something different that is their right at their, their level as well.

01:42:17,840	S1:
So go ahead. Commissioner.

01:42:20,160	S6:
Mayor. Commissioner Ellison, one more time I might have more. But my next question. Um, so how do you determine there's a there's a few property owners that said that assessing has not been in their property for 25, 30 years or whatever.

01:42:46,080	Um, so then how do you come up with that valuation if you can't see actual improvements that were in there physically or deferred maintenance or those types of things? So how does that valuation come about? S3:
We're going to use the information we have available about that property in our office. If we have not been able to make a physical interior inspection, if there's a you know, if we can only see the front of the exterior of the home, we're going to use the information that we have available to us to establish that value. Um, we can't get in every home every year. Um, we like I said, we have a six year cycle that we're reviewing properties on. Um, but not everybody's going to let us in either. So we're going to have to assume what we know about the home is correct. And we could be wrong because there's plenty of properties. It's been ten, 20, 30 years since we've been in them. And and so we have to assume that the data that we have that's carried over all those years is still accurate. And it might not be, um, if there's deferred maintenance, especially on the interior of the home, you know, we're not going to know that. And if they've recently, you know, made some improvements to the exterior of the home. And we come through that area, you know, we might assume, oh, they've been doing some, some improvements to the home, but you do not have to make an improvement to the property. For the valuation to increase, if the market shows that properties that are in, you know, they're just cared for. Um, you know, typical maintenance, that sort of stuff are selling for more than what we have on there. We do have to raise those values. So you don't have to make an improvement for your value to change, because we have to follow the market, and the market's going to dictate what we have to do with those valuations. And we're going to use the information we have on those structures to establish that value and then adjust it to the sales accordingly.

01:44:34,610	S1:
If I can just follow up on one of the questions Commissioner Zenker asked, would it be possible for you to come back to one of our. I realize it's a different board, but it's the same person's, uh, just a summary findings or a summarize. Summarize the activity of the follow up. We don't have to get the detail necessarily, but, A summary that we would be able to hear at a future commission meeting. I think that would be helpful for us.

01:45:02,590	S9:
I'd be happy.

01:45:03,070	S1:
So we can know that these wonderful residents and constituents have been heard and have had their day in, day in the office.

01:45:12,950	S9:
Yeah.

01:45:14,950	S1:
Commissioners, would you find that to be helpful?

01:45:16,950	S6:
Yeah, I think, mayor, I think that's a great idea. I mean, that would be because we see them on our consent agenda abatements and those types of things and corrections, but with the with the mass amount of letters that went out and, and the concern as well. I mean, and I have some concerns too. You shouldn't see properties go up $140,000 in 4 or 5 years. That just doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, I'm in the construction industry and things have gone up. I can I get that and I can give you. I know for a fact that the the state will come in and make adjustments because I have, I have property in, in another county. And that's exactly what happened in that county. They came in and over a two year period. They they adjusted those rates and you had to adjust your glasses a little bit because of what was what happened. So I appreciate the fact that we're between that that percentage that that's dictated to us. But there also has to be an explanation to everybody as well. When you see those, those, those large spikes, because if you're if you have misinformation, I'll use Mr. Chambers because he's still here and his house isn't, isn't explained on the interweb, so to speak, versus what he lives in. I mean, there has to be an adjustment for that. I mean, if he's got non compatible windows for egress in the basement, it's not a five bedroom house because you because it's by code. Right? That's a whole nother scenario that we'd have to bring in to make that house feasible for five bedrooms. So it shouldn't be labeled as five bedrooms either. So.

01:46:42,010	S3:
Well and we're you know, we'll definitely update our information when we go for the review. But I will say that the number of bedrooms does not affect our value.

01:46:52,990	Um, it's the total square footage, Understand? S6:
But that's the example, right? That's an example of that.

01:46:55,550	S3:
Yeah, absolutely.

01:46:56,950	S1:
So all right any other comments or questions at this point in time.

01:47:03,510	S8:
Okay.

01:47:04,430	S1:
Go ahead then.

01:47:05,350	S9:
Yep.

01:47:06,150	S3:
Um, so if if you don't have anything else for me on that, um, I do have.

01:47:14,950	S3:
Some information here. We had some property owners. Oh. Hold on. It's in this.

01:47:20,070	S9:
File.

01:47:25,150	S3:
There were some property owners who reached out to us prior to the meeting tonight. So we have a list like we do typically every year where we've visited with the property owner. We've made the visit, we've found some error in our information. Um, and so we've let them know what the updated value should be after our review. And they've agreed to that value. So I do have a list, um, that I can share with you that we will need a motion on from you to approve these changes for the 2026 value, so I'll just.

01:47:57,660	S9:
Hand you these. Um.

01:48:12,260	S3:
Like I said, these property owners have already agreed to the adjustments that we are recommending.

01:48:20,060	S3:
And we will send them a notification after the meeting as well. Um, that their property, their 2026 value is changing from this evening. The other list of properties that I have, um, are property owners that we have talked to, that they don't agree with their valuation. This list is a little longer this year. Um, because there is a group who want to visit with me, but I haven't had a chance to visit with them yet. They just contacted me on Monday morning and they've scheduled a meeting for me to come visit with them the following Monday. Um, and so they just wanted to make sure it was on record that they were contesting their values and know that I'm going to come and visit with them and we'll discuss those things. Um, and they did send some information with that that they wanted me to share with you as a board. So I have the list of the properties that we're recommending, no change on for tonight. And some of those are ones that we still need to go and visit. Um, if changes are made or recommended for those again, we'll take those to the the county board, the 1st of June to make sure those get adjusted for 2026. Um, but I'm just going to share that there's a few other property owners who sent in some letters. Um, some of them we have reached out to and they haven't got back to us. So we haven't been able to make a physical review, which is part of the reason we're going to recommend no change on those. Again, if we could get out to take a look at those. There might be something we can adjust, and everyone on this list will receive a letter as well, with the notification that no change was made at the meeting. But you know, they'll be able to give us a call so we can get that scheduled. Or they can just strictly call the county and go to them. But I will share these with you as well.

01:50:11,900	S9:
This is the list of.

01:50:13,940	S3:
No change.

01:50:15,740	S9:
Or.

01:50:15,940	S3:
They don't agree with the recommendation. If we are recommending a change and then the information.

01:50:21,220	S9:
That.

01:50:22,900	S3:
Some of the appellants.

01:50:24,100	S9:
Sent in. Um.

01:50:29,340	S3:
For the, the one that was online, I had emailed you that packet because it was a bit larger. Um, so they could you guys could have that. We have not been able to review that fully in our office at this point in time, but we will take a closer look at that as well.

01:50:48,360	S1:
So I want to make sure I have this. So the first list, the property owners and you have come to agreement on. So we would have a motion to accept those changes. Yes. This list where we've got people who are contesting but there has not been an opportunity to agree. We still have to.

01:51:20,760	You're telling us we need to agree to the values, even though there could be a chance that those are going to change? S8:
Okay.

01:51:21,200	S3:
Yes. Because tonight we're going to approve the values based on what we've been able to review. Um, and again, any of these on the the recommending no change list because we do have some appointments scheduled out with some of these property owners or we they just haven't responded to us trying to get back in touch with them. Um, we have time between now and the 1st of June.

01:51:47,020	S1:
So look at that. So those that have scheduled the appointment, do they know we're going to vote? No change tonight?

01:51:55,020	S9:
Yes.

01:51:55,260	S3:
They'll have let them know.

01:51:56,340	S8:
Okay.

01:51:56,700	S3:
The ones that we have been able to talk.

01:51:58,380	S1:
To, I'm just. Communication is very important.

01:52:07,060	And, um, what about all those individuals who came tonight? S3:
We will will add them to our list. We will make no change to their value at the meeting tonight. Everybody who came to the meeting will reach out to them. We'll visit with them. Will review their property if there is an adjustment to make. We will have to ask the county board to make that. Because there's no way for us to meet again between the 15th of this month and now and get a chance to review all those properties. So that's why we'll take it on to the county board for the recommendation at that point.

01:52:37,380	S1:
So to follow up with my suggestion about the summary, that's really the information that I want to hear, because I want to know kind of the results of this meeting tonight.

01:52:50,650	S9:
Okay.

01:52:51,410	S3:
Once we've had a chance to visit with all those property owners and review their properties and know what the valuation may or may not change, I will throw an agenda item on and come back and and share with the board.

01:53:05,570	S1:
I would appreciate that. Yeah. Um, because there's there's some here that I think need to have a hard look at.

01:53:13,330	S8:
Okay.

01:53:13,890	S3:
Absolutely. Okay. Are there any questions about any of the stuff that I shared with those appeals and the letters that were sent?

01:53:25,490	S1:
Commissioners I mean, we just got a bunch of stuff handed to us so.

01:53:30,730	S3:
I can tell you, um.

01:53:36,010	S3:
The. I believe that First one we called them, but they didn't want us to come out and take a look at the property, which was why with their letter, we have our comparable sales. Um, and then taking what we know about their home and assuming it's correct, they're currently valued at $165 a square foot and the comparable sales that we have for their property. We have a range of $151 to $305 a square foot of properties that have sold. Um, and so that one, the reason why we're recommending no change is since we're not getting in to review the property, we're assuming that all of our information about the structure is accurate, and then we do have sales to support our current valuation.

01:54:25,790	S9:
I mixed my papers orders up when I was looking at them. Are you talking about the Porter Avenue house? Yes. Okay. Yes, I almost did. These are out.

01:54:39,090	S3:
The next couple of letters that I had in my packet, those were emailed into our office. They are on a few shop condos. We reached out, responded to the email. Um, we're getting no response back from that property owner. So we haven't been able to get into these, and we've tried for a few years now to get inside those, um, suite 109. The second letter of those two was purchased. The property owner purchased that in November of 2024 for 200,000. Um, our current value is that 192 four, and they're asking for it to be lowered to 178 nine, but we don't know why he thinks it should be less than what he paid for it, because he hasn't responded to us and we haven't had a chance to get in and take a look at that. So again, that's why we're recommending no change on those.

01:55:37,550	Um, S3:
I think the next bit of information I shared with you is it's a 101.

01:55:44,150	S9:
You're talking about the Takoma Avenue?

01:55:45,510	S3:
Yes, Takoma Avenue.

01:55:46,950	S9:
On this list and has it at 266.

01:55:50,670	S3:
The. I'm sorry, there's.

01:55:56,190	S3:
No.

01:55:59,870	S9:
The.

01:56:01,550	S3:
We will correct that because you're right. There is an error there. Um, we must have a typo on that because.

01:56:12,030	S3:
I believe it, it is valued at the 192 four, but I will double check that on my list before we post it to our minutes so it is accurate.

01:56:23,910	S6:
So then I would have to ask is 108 accurate to then? I mean because that's a pretty that's $136,000 difference. I would assume that they're the same address different suites. That got to be.

01:56:35,730	S3:
They are different suites. And the, um, the 108 does have finish um, for the law office itself. 109 is basically just like a shop condo. Without this, it does not have the same finish as as 108. So 109 has less finish in it. From what we're aware of. Again, we haven't been able to get inside these. So.

01:57:02,890	S3:
That's why there's a a jump in that value. Um because 108 does have a different interior finish to it. They have more stuff completed. Um, let's see the next bit of information that we were given from a property owner that I had to share was there's a letter and then there list of parcels. Um, this is the one that I just found out about on Monday. They they sent me all of this information here, and I'm meeting with them next Monday to go over the changes. Um, why their values change the way they were? Because they are vacant lots. Um, so I can explain to them, you know, how our process did change for this year? Uh, the commercial vacant lots. Um, there's some in that daybreak subdivision, and then we have some in. He has a miscellaneous, um, and then Bowdoin subdivision. Those all have some commercial lots. The Elk Ridge and Beaudoin have some residential in those. And so I can visit with him about what we did and why. Um, and I'm going to look at the information that he shared, what, you know, and what we have for sales. We in that daybreak subdivision. You know, as I've been looking at this, it looks like our current value per square foot, we have a range of like $5 to $11 a square foot on the lots in that area there. Um, for 2025, we had sales in that subdivision of the same zoning. They're going to be a little bit different in size. Um, but we had a 2025 sale that was $28 a square foot. We had another 2025 sale that was $17 a square foot. And that's just in that subdivision itself. Um, overall within the city, the CG land sales, uh, for 23, 24 and 25, we have a median price per square foot of $14.58. And just for 2025 sales, the median price per square foot was $16.50. So all of these are still valued much less than what the lots the CG land is selling for per square foot. Um, but I can double check my information with him and visit with them about that. Um, they do currently have all of these. I would say all but two of those listed for sale. Um, and the listings for those lots are significantly higher than than what we have them valued at.

01:59:53,560	S3:
Elk Ridge, there's a few of them in there that I think we might have a little higher than they should be, because they're the twin home lots. Um, based on on the sales. So those will definitely visit with them about and take a look at the miscellaneous one on Brookside Place. Um, that one we currently have valued at $7.55 a square foot. The two neighboring lots that sold in 22 and 23 were $22 and $21 a square foot for those lots. So we are below what just in that subdivision is selling for. And again, it would be that same range overall of 1458 for a three year median and 1650 for a one year median on CG lots. And then in Bowdoin, the lots that are on here are either a residential lot or an art lot. The sales that we had, um, for the art. So the commercial lots. The median sale price is $19 a square foot for 2025, and our value is $5.25 a square foot. So we are 27% of the sale price. So we are definitely below tolerance level on on the market value of those. Um, and as for the residential lots, there was only two of the residential lots that sold at 124 nine per lot. There is a range of the different lots, and they're currently advertised at 89.9 to 144 nine. So anywhere between 36 and 58% of market of our value, basically, because those are currently listed at 50, we have them valued at $52,400. So I will keep going through this to make sure I have my information correct. Visit with them on Monday and I will add them to my list to to share with you guys when I do come back. But anything that we will adjust will adjust through the the county. Um, the county board will make that final adjustment for us. Otherwise, the only other one that I had there was the, um, 400 East Broadway, which was the one that I had emailed you earlier. Um, and I think I might have included our comps. We do not have anything like that Wells Fargo building that's sold. It's very unique. It's, um. That one was built in 1980 ish.

02:02:30,100	S6:
Somewhere in the.

02:02:30,820	S3:
76. Okay, 76. And that total square footage that we have listed on there, um, that includes the parking garage. There's only three that I can think of, that one included, um, where the property has its own parking garage. Uh, the. And so that that does make it a little different. We were figuring a price per square foot of that unit, including the parking garage, because not all, especially downtown offices, you're not going to have great parking. Um, at the majority of them, you're going to have to hope you have street parking and or somebody's going to park in a ramp, and you're definitely probably not going to have anything for your tenants or their employees to park in typically either. Um, with the downtown area, it it is difficult for us to find comparables because we don't have anything of that size that has sold recently. Um, I will say its current value per unit or for the. For the building itself, including the parking ramp, we have it at $54.84. Its value. Um, the other two properties that have a parking ramp, one of them is the US Bank building, 200 North Third. That one does have a ramp as well. It's a 1978 build, so it's similar in age, but its square footage is is significantly smaller. Um, but we have that at about $60 a square foot for its current 2026 value. And then the first interstate or first international. I'm sorry. Um, much newer. Built in 2016. It has a parking ramp as well. Um, that one has a 2026 value. That's $192 a square foot, but it is significantly newer. So that's going to be the reason for the the big difference in the the value per square foot. Um.

02:04:28,790	S3:
We don't have enough income and expense information to utilize, and we would never use the the actual income and expense from a property to set their valuation. We'd have to find the market. And we don't have enough people sharing their income and expense information with our office to establish a market for our area, which is why we don't utilize the approach. Um, except for, like I said, on the hotels. And that's because I can get information from the local market to tell me what their average daily rate and their occupancies should be for our market. And and when it comes to the office buildings, I just don't have enough information to utilize that. And so we will rely more on the sales comparison approach. But again it is a unique building. So we just really don't have a whole lot for that. They, um, between 23 and 24, they put over $7 million into that property, um, for renovations. And part of the reason for the increase in value is because with that renovation, they finished a couple floors that previously didn't have finish in them. So we weren't valuing for finish on those. And we had to add that in there, um, that they were now finished. So that's part of the reason why our value changed over the last few years on that building. Um, so just wanted to share that about that one. So.

02:05:54,050	S1:
Um, well, so I will make a statement. I believe cash cash income on commercial real property is the more appropriate methodology of valuing. That's if they go to a bank. That's what's going to be looked at. So I tend to agree with that. I think, um, that needs to be looked at. We have to maybe look at our valuation process for some of these properties when they're not owner occupied but are tenant occupied. Um, because that does change it. You know, the the reference to the First International Bank that's significantly owner occupied, it has significantly different finishes in, but they also are more owner occupied versus these that are tenant occupied. The two that you reference downtown in particular. Um, I, I, I think that there is Mr. Hynes presented a very good argument that needs to be seriously looked at, because I don't quite understand how we can have such a difference in cost.

02:06:59,110	S3:
The information, and I would love to see his sheet. I don't have that, but I'm not.

02:07:03,630	S1:
Sure you can have mine.

02:07:04,550	S3:
If, um, if the information he's utilizing.

02:07:08,110	S1:
What he has to be comparable, I guess.

02:07:10,030	S3:
Is a current value. So and that's, that's one thing I'd like to verify before I, so I can explain that portion of it, but I.

02:07:18,370	S1:
Based on what is here. It does look something out of line. But go ahead, Commissioner Zenker.

02:07:23,210	S8:
Mayor.

02:07:23,450	S6:
Commissioner Ellison. But he was here two years ago with the South Star. I mean, so I would I'm not going to question his credibility. I would think that he had to go through this once before. He he probably just had to update the spreadsheet that he had two years ago. And it's I mean, when you look at those comparables, that is I don't see how you can how it can be double of some of those stores that that he that he lists on there. I mean, each one of us has probably been in those stores multiple times. And box store is a box store and a store that has friendly environment when you walk in, still sell stuff, you know you're not paying for the environment, so you don't charge. We don't assess more for the environment. So I think that that. I completely agree with the mayor that that has to be looked at and reviewed.

02:08:16,360	S1:
And my only other comment, and this is a difficult one because I think it's just I don't know how we go about it, but as developers put lots on and there's three or 4 or 5 developers in town.

02:08:30,400	S1:
You know, they're they've got an absorption rate to those developments that could take 12 or 15 years before they sell out. And just because they have a price that they're asking for, that doesn't mean that's what they're going to get. And because there's a sales price that may be reported, they may be doing some other things to those for those buyers or those lots, given some concessions. So I look forward to when you have that conversation with the one that is presented here. Because I think, you know, I want to be fair to those people too, because without growth, we don't we don't increase property values and we don't increase tax revenues if we don't have new property coming on. And so, um, that the report will be very important for me to receive in a month or whatever it is when we can get that. So, um, thank you for the work you've done. Thank you for. Most people have left, but for those of you who came tonight, I do appreciate you being here and expressing your concerns because we can't do anything about it, and Allison's team can't do anything about it if we don't hear about it. So I don't know if anybody else has any comments. We need two motions.

02:09:42,820	S3:
We'll need three.

02:09:43,580	S1:
Three motions.

02:09:44,220	S3:
Yep. We'll need a motion for each of those lists to be approved. And then for the annual report to be approved with those changes.

02:09:51,500	S8:
So okay.

02:09:52,780	S25:
I would move to approve the list of the 2025 Board of Equalization meeting. Owners agreed with value change um addresses.

02:10:05,020	S6:
Second.

02:10:06,820	S8:
Any discussion?

02:10:10,620	S1:
Hearing none. We'll call roll.

02:10:13,760	S2:
Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Risch.

02:10:18,600	S8:
Yes.

02:10:19,720	S2:
Schmitz.

02:10:20,920	S8:
Yes.

02:10:22,280	S22:
Commissioner Risch joined a little tardy. I didn't I didn't flag you down. But he's been listening for quite some time.

02:10:28,520	S1:
Okay, well, Commissioner Rush, did you have any comments? I should have asked that earlier.

02:10:32,560	S8:
No, no, I've.

02:10:33,640	S26:
Been listening in. I was late to the party. I'm sorry about that.

02:10:36,640	S8:
Okay.

02:10:42,040	S1:
All right.

02:10:43,200	S25:
I would move to approve the 2025 Board of Equalization meeting. Owners disagree with recommendation, list of addresses and values.

02:10:51,680	S1:
Second is that is that the way we should be making that motion?

02:10:55,880	S6:
Because as long as it includes the list of people who spoke to.

02:11:00,560	S3:
Yeah, it can, we can it does. I'll add that to the list for the minutes purposes. So they'll.

02:11:06,880	S25:
Be added to.

02:11:07,360	S3:
The list. Added to that list. Okay. Yep. And then.

02:11:10,220	S25:
Yep. Okay.

02:11:11,180	S3:
Now that I have information from them. So.

02:11:14,380	S9:
Okay.

02:11:16,100	S1:
So we have a first and a second. Do we have further discussion? Hearing none, we'll call roll.

02:11:22,060	S2:
Commissioner Risch. Yes, Commissioner. Zenker. Yes, Commissioner. Cleary. Yes. Mayor Schmitz.

02:11:29,020	S1:
Yes. Okay.

02:11:31,180	S25:
And then I would move to approve the annual report from the assessing Division for 2026. With the changes that were made tonight. Yes.

02:11:43,100	S6:
Second.

02:11:44,700	S1:
Is there any discussion? Hearing none. We'll call. Oh. I'm sorry.

02:11:49,780	S6:
Mayor. Commissioners. Commissioner Risch, since you're on the phone, I just wanted to make you stay a little bit longer.

02:11:54,860	S26:
Oh, I got bowling tonight.

02:11:56,700	S6:
Okay, you'll make it. What time? At 730 we got. Give me two minutes. So I will just say this. And I said this last year or two, I mean, um, so with the state changing the way we can do things financially, right? I think there has to be a methodology, methodology change as well. I understand the reason for for the, um, assessments and stuff on the, on the new properties and upgrades and those types of things. But um, if if we're going to be capped at a 3%, they've got to figure out a way to do the algebraic equation. So it's 3% for everybody. Right. I mean, I don't um, my 3% of my house is different than, than someone who has 3% on their house, which is less value for someone who has 3% on on a value that's higher. Right. So we all kind of pay our quote unquote equal share. So, um, just because I'm getting out of the game, so to speak, doesn't mean I'll be out of the game. I will try to work with local legislators. And I brought it up to him last year that we have to do something about the valuations. Um, as to how the, the local municipalities, uh, figure those, those out and kind of some of this stuff's got to be pulled out of the equation. I totally understand that we have to do it, but there has to be a limit to. To what? That's what those valuations can be. Unless you make a major change or bring it in a new property to the to the city.

02:13:21,390	S1:
And and Commissioner, I appreciate exactly what you're saying. I've had those same conversations with the delegates as well. And maybe they'll, at the next session, do something to fix that or help us out because it would be less less confusing. Go ahead, Commissioner rush.

02:13:37,110	S8:
Yeah.

02:13:37,630	S26:
I think Commissioner Zenker makes an excellent point. Some of these people are getting these assessments that are like 20 or 30% more than what they had last year, and they're making the assumption that all their taxes are going to go up 20 to 30%, when in fact we're capped at 3%. So some clarity here would be, I think, really helpful. Thank you, Commissioner Zenker, for pointing that out.

02:13:59,630	S8:
All right.

02:14:00,710	S25:
Thank you, Allison, for all of your work and all the work that the team does. I know this is a huge lift every year for you guys.

02:14:06,850	S1:
Is there any other business? I think.

02:14:09,450	S8:
Oh.

02:14:10,410	S1:
Okay. I'm sorry you distracted me.

02:14:14,130	S6:
I'm above average of that.

02:14:16,450	S8:
All right.

02:14:17,410	S1:
Any other discussion on the motion to accept the report? Hearing none. Roll call. Roll.

02:14:23,290	S2:
Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner Risch. Yes. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Mayor Schmitz.

02:14:29,130	S1:
Yes. All right. Now, is there any other business? Seeing none. Hearing none. We are adjourned. Thank you.

02:14:36,850	S27:
Thank you.